Microsoft complains font is too small on Apple "App Store" trademark brief
Microsoft has filed a motion to strike Apple's latest legal brief because the font is too small in a dispute over the iPhone maker's application to trademark the term "App Store."
According to a motion filed earlier this week, Microsoft has requested that a court brief recently filed by Apple be dismissed because of length and font size, GeekWire reports. At 31 pages, Apple's brief exceeds the 25 page limit. Microsoft also claims the brief does not meet the minimum 11 point font size.
In the motion, Microsoft asked for Apple's response brief to be stricken and for the Cupertino, Calif., company to refile a brief "that complies with the rules and does not add any new matter or arguments."
Microsoft may be looking to buy more time for its countering brief, as the motion requests the briefing schedule be suspended while Apple prepares its corrected response brief.
At issue is whether Apple has the right to trademark the term "App Store." Apple filed for the trademark in 2008 after the launch of the iPhone App Store. In January of this year, a Microsoft filing surfaced revealing that the Redmond, Wash., software giant had opposed Apple's trademark application on the grounds that the term was too generic.
"'App' is a common generic name for the goods offered at Apple?s store, as shown in dictionary definitions and by widespread use by Apple and others," Microsoft wrote in its request for summary judgment. "'Store' is generic for the 'retail store services' for which Apple seeks registration, and indeed, Apple refers to its 'App Store' as a store."
Apple responded earlier this month with the brief in question, arguing that the term "App Store" is no more generic than Microsoft's "Windows" trademark.
"Having itself faced a decades-long genericness challenge to its claimed WINDOWS mark, Microsoft should be well aware that the focus in evaluating genericness is on the mark as a whole and requires a fact-intensive assessment of the primary significance of the term to a substantial majority of the relevant public," Apple wrote in the brief.
The case will be decided by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
According to a motion filed earlier this week, Microsoft has requested that a court brief recently filed by Apple be dismissed because of length and font size, GeekWire reports. At 31 pages, Apple's brief exceeds the 25 page limit. Microsoft also claims the brief does not meet the minimum 11 point font size.
In the motion, Microsoft asked for Apple's response brief to be stricken and for the Cupertino, Calif., company to refile a brief "that complies with the rules and does not add any new matter or arguments."
Microsoft may be looking to buy more time for its countering brief, as the motion requests the briefing schedule be suspended while Apple prepares its corrected response brief.
At issue is whether Apple has the right to trademark the term "App Store." Apple filed for the trademark in 2008 after the launch of the iPhone App Store. In January of this year, a Microsoft filing surfaced revealing that the Redmond, Wash., software giant had opposed Apple's trademark application on the grounds that the term was too generic.
"'App' is a common generic name for the goods offered at Apple?s store, as shown in dictionary definitions and by widespread use by Apple and others," Microsoft wrote in its request for summary judgment. "'Store' is generic for the 'retail store services' for which Apple seeks registration, and indeed, Apple refers to its 'App Store' as a store."
Apple responded earlier this month with the brief in question, arguing that the term "App Store" is no more generic than Microsoft's "Windows" trademark.
"Having itself faced a decades-long genericness challenge to its claimed WINDOWS mark, Microsoft should be well aware that the focus in evaluating genericness is on the mark as a whole and requires a fact-intensive assessment of the primary significance of the term to a substantial majority of the relevant public," Apple wrote in the brief.
The case will be decided by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
Comments
Interesting legal debate, but doesn't affect Apple much either way.
App Store is probably too generic. So is Windows, but MS got their trademark.
Interesting legal debate, but doesn't affect Apple much either way.
Tend to agree, it's not all that important. If Apple can win it though, it will be a constant irritation for the competition to have to avoid using the term 'app store' whenever they refer to...app stores...and will remind customers from time to time that Apple were the trailblazers in this.
I can't help but feel if MS had come up with the idea first (and why the hell didn't they will 20 years of IT dominance?) it would have been called the 'Program Store', as I cannot ever recall MS using the term 'app'.
It's does smack of pettiness somehow though. Even so, it'll be interesting to see how it works itself out. I'm just glad I'm not paying the legal fees! (I like to think the staggering £500 profit Apple made on my MacBook Pro went to building the New Stanford Hospital
You shouldn't be able to trademark the name "App store."
Might as well fight ridiculousness with ridiculousness. Go Microsoft.
Edit: Can I legally change my name to App Store?
How 'bout App L. Store?
You can't trademark the name "Grocery Store" or "Department Store."
You shouldn't be able to trademark the name "App store."
Might as well fight rediculousness with rediculousness. Go Microsoft.
This is not the same thing as your examples for dozens of reasons that you're obviously not aware of. You clearly don't even know the history of the term, who used it first, when it was in general use and for what reasons.
Why comment on stuff you know nothing about?
One things for sure -- many lawyers are making piles of money off all of this.
You can't trademark the name "Grocery Store" or "Department Store."
Not now you certainly can't. But if you had the foresight to do it back when there were no other grocery or department stores (by that name) you probably could have.
They will just put it on a bigger sheet of paper! Lol
There are other names that the other companies can use for their stores.
As an example, I suggest "Malware Store" for Google's Android.
This is not the same thing as your examples for dozens of reasons that you're obviously not aware of. You clearly don't even know the history of the term, who used it first, when it was in general use and for what reasons.
Why comment on stuff you know nothing about?
I'm just talking abut common sense, Dr. Peabrain. 'First use' doesn't matter if the term is too generic to be trademarked.
You can't trademark the name "Grocery Store" or "Department Store."
You shouldn't be able to trademark the name "App store."
Might as well fight ridiculousness with ridiculousness. Go Microsoft.
Edit: Can I legally change my name to App Store?
How 'bout App L. Store?
Hmm, I can see both sides of the issue. Yes, an "app" is a program. It wasn't a layman term until the past 2-3 years though. I would venture that only programmers would know it as such before recently. 4 years ago, if someone said they had an app, I'd say, "College app? Job app?..."
American Apparel owns a trademark on its name, even though it just means "American clothes". They can't prevent people from saying, "I like American apparel better than French apparel". But if someone started a clothing company called "American apparel", you'd bet they'd have a case.
If I were the judge, I'd allow MS and other companies to use the term "app store" generically. Like "our app store is better than Apple's." But I would not allow them to use it as the title of their store, e.g. "Microsoft App Store".
Joke? Desperate? Too much money? Seriously....
You can't trademark the name "Grocery Store" or "Department Store."
You shouldn't be able to trademark the name "App store."
Might as well fight ridiculousness with ridiculousness. Go Microsoft.
Edit: Can I legally change my name to App Store?
How 'bout App L. Store?
OMG. I have windows in my walls so I can see what's going on outside. Better call my lawyer.
This is not the same thing as your examples for dozens of reasons that you're obviously not aware of. You clearly don't even know the history of the term, who used it first, when it was in general use and for what reasons.
Why comment on stuff you know nothing about?
Because s/he is on the internet. It's the only place a 16 year old working at McDonald's can pretend to have knowledge.
Not now you certainly can't. But if you had the foresight to do it back when there were no other grocery or department stores (by that name) you probably could have.
Quite right. For that matter, the first Supermarket probably should have trademarked that term. All the other big markets would have had to call themselves 'big markets', and would have always sounded a notch below.